Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962 - NASA's History Office

ASTRONAUTICAL AND AERONAUTICAL EVENTS OF 1962 215
launched Jan. 26, 1962. Similar instrumentation was planned
for Ranger (5)) to be launched in mid-October.
October 16: NASA announced five additional lunar spacecraft would be
launched in Project Ranger during 1964. The five additions
brought total scheduled Rangers to 14.
0 Beginning of two-month-long Project Firefly under USAF Cambridge
Research Laboratories, the project involving about 30 research
rockets carryipg varioas chemical payloads to altitudes of from
50 to 150 mi. Some of the payloads were intended to create higherthan-normal
electron density in ionosphere for communications
studies. Other payloads were designed to remove electrons from
the F-layer to generate a “hole” in the ionosphere. Other
released chemicals would interact with ambient elements to produce
glow; observation of glow at night would enable tracking
and measuring of upper-atmosphere winds. Mixtures exploding
at high altitudes would permit observation of shock-wave pertmbations
of the ionosphere. Vehicles used included approximately
16 Nike-Cajuns, 9 Honest John-Nikes, and 5 Aerobee 150’s.
Launchin s were from Eglin AFB, Fla.
Dr. Siegfie% J. Bauer of NASA Goddard Space Blight Center, one
of the scientists who discovered existence of 900-mi.-thick helium
layer in the atmosphere, offered explanation of USAF probe’s failure
to detect helium layer. USAF Cambridge Research Laboratories
probe did not detect helium layer because the probe was
launched at night, when the layer is so thin that the instruments
used could not detect it. According to Dr. Bauer, even in daytime,
helium layer will become relatively thin during periods of
minimum solar activity and relatively thick during periods of
maximum solar activity. Dr. Bauer feels the layer will not be
detected by standard ionosphere probing but will necessitate use
of special instrumentation.
Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, NASA Deputy Administrator, described use of
instruments in space exploration, in address at 17th annual
Instrument-Automation Conference and Exhibit, New York:
“There are three main areas. The first is that of observations of
spacecraft by instruments on the ground, and the processing of
[such] data. . . . The second area is that of measurements made
by instruments in the s acecraft on the space environment . . .
erformance o P the equipment m the s acecraft. . . .
The and thir Onif area consists of similar measurements of t e performance
of the rockets and the acceleration, vibration, and noise environment
which they impose on the spacecraft. . . . ,>
DOD announced ste s were being taken to organize an integrated
scientific and tec E nical information rogram within DOD, headed
by Dr. Harold Brown, Director of f5efense Research and Engineering.
Soviet press agency Tass announced U.S.S.R. would test “new
versions of multistage carrier rockets for space objects” in the
Pacific test ranges between October 16 and November 30.
NASA announced appointment of Robert H. Charles as procurement
consultant to the Administrator. Charles previously had served
as executive vice president of McDonnell Aircraft Gorp.
0 Dr. Lawrence E. Lamb, chief of Clinical Sciences Div. of USAF
School of Aerospace Medicine, predicted before the Second Inter-
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